California’s attorney general says Indian tribes cannot independently engage in marijuana commerce with licensed cannabis businesses without first obtaining their own commercial license from state officials.
Assemblymember Anamarie Avila Farias (D) had requested the opinion from Attorney General Rob Bonta’s (D) office as a bill moves through the Assembly to authorize state-licensed marijuana businesses to buy and sell products from operators licensed by tribal governments within California’s borders.
That legislation, from Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D), was amended to make it so the governor would be allowed to enter into agreements with federally recognized Indian tribes to engage in intrastate cannabis commerce with state licensees, pending “federal approval or toleration.”
It would build upon an existing law that empowers the governor to authorize interstate cannabis commerce, with exports and imports between businesses licensed in California and those licensed in other states, if they meet certain regulatory standards and the activity is sanctioned by the federal government.
Bonta’s office has previously determined that no such federal permission exists to allow for such agreements, but advocates have recently raised questions about whether that could change given the Trump administration’s move to reschedule medical marijuana in legal states.
In any case, the Hart bill
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